Cordoba

We bussed into Cordoba in the evening time. A two or three hour ride from Granada. Despite missing every sunset at the lookout over the Alhambra, I did get to see a beautiful sunset over a mountainside of olive trees during the trip. Hannah did not appreciate me waking her up to see it, but it inspired me to consider a retirement as an olive orchard owner someday.

We exited the bus, and consulted Hannah's trusty guidebook (We <3 Rick Steves!). Rick recommended two city bus numbers to take to get to the main part of the city. As we walked out of the bus station, #4 was waiting for us, so we eagerly jumped on. After boarding, we realized we weren't real sure what stop to get off at... and the longer the ride went on, the further off the map we ventured. We ended up in the suburbs/ghetto of Cordoba. We did manage to find the Hipercore and Carrefour... two huge markets... just in case we needed them for our less than 24 hour stay. Finally the bus returned us to pretty much where we got off and we hoofed it like we should have done in the first place.

Coming to Cordoba we had no plans... literally NO PLANS. No hostel. No set bus times. NOTHING! (This should be very shocking for those of you who know me... I DO NOT fly by the seat of my pants.) Thus, we were two girls and two backpacks marching through the streets of Cordoba at 9:00 PM hoping for a room anywhere. The first place we went wanted to charge us $100 (USD) to sleep in their room for the night, and the next only had the honeymoon suite available (despite considering this our "second honeymoon" [see Santander post for the 1st], we were not on a honeymooner's budget). Finally we found a place on a side street with a grouchy man running the desk who offered shelter for a reasonable price. SUCCESS!

Rachel H., Liliana, Lizette, and Fran were already in Cordoba, so we met up with them on the magical bridge for a mosey around town.

alter on the bridge 

They had already spent a full day there and were headed to Seville the next morning, so they gave us the rundown on what we should and shouldn't do. We sat on the steps of the mezquita chatting and joking... only typing this do I realize how cool that is! (Ohhh... no big deal, just hung out on the steps of one of the most FAMOUS places in Spain catching up with friends! GOD MY LIFE IS AWESOME!) We parted ways, and Hannah and I found a restaurant to get tapas and wine before turning in for the night.

The next morning we woke up early, ready to go see the mezquita.

It's free to visit on Mondays (and lo and behold Monday we were there), so we were expecting megalines. YEP... we walked up, asked a guard where the line for tickets was, he laughed and just pointed towards a door... we just waltzed on in... no line... no money. YAY! So Cordoba's mezquita is as iconic as the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. It's something I've seen pictures and learned about a bajillion times, and was ELATED to finally see in person. IT'S FRICKIN AWESOME! The only disappointing part is that it was converted from a mosque to a Catholic church when the Reconquista occurred... so there's beautiful Moorish work, then a giant, out of place crucifix. I'm not anti-Catholics... just build your own darn church... stop stealing everyone else's!!!

After the mezquita, we walked around for a little while deciding what to do with our day. After pre-reading about Seville in the guidebook, we decided to grab an earlier bus so we could have more time to enjoy Seville.